In Iceland, more energy will be used for bitcoin mining than powering homes

Mining bitcoins requires a great deal of computing power which in turn needs a lot of electricity to solve the mathematical puzzles that reward miners with cryptocurrency.

China and South Korea have already banned bitcoin mining due to problems with a lack of control over fraud and money laundering, and in China's case, concern over the amount of power that the activity sucks from the electricity grid.

Now one of the most popular destinations for bitcoin mining could be facing the same problem as large cryptocurrency miners pile in to take advantage of the island's abundant geothermal and hydroelectric power plants.

According to Iceland's National Energy Authority, bitcoin mining is expected to double Iceland's energy consumption to around 100 megawatts this year, which is more than households on the island nation of 340,000 use, Metro News reported on Sunday.

In 2014 Oilprice.com found Iceland to be "the world's top energy glutton," using more kilograms of oil equivalent per capita than any other nation on earth. With most of Iceland’s energy coming from hydroelectric and geothermal power, Icelanders are some of the planet’s least energy-conscious. Click here for a fascinating video of why the Nordic nation uses so much energy.